Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Neerja Bhanot-2016

Neerja Bhanot

Neerja Bhanot (Hindi: नीरजा भनोट) (7 September 1963 – 5 September 1986) was a flight attendant for Pan Am, based in Mumbai, India, who was murdered while saving passengers from terrorists on board the hijacked Pan Am Flight 73
on 5 September 1986. Posthumously, she became the youngest recipient of
India's highest peacetime military award for bravery, the Ashok Chakra.

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Born

7 September 1963Chandigarh, Punjab, India

Died

5 September 1986 (aged 22)Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan

Nationality

Indian

Other names

Laado

Occupation

Flight attendant

Storyline:

which was hijacked
by four armed men. As the plane was on the tarmac, the three-member
American on cockpit crew of pilot, co-pilot and in the flight engineer
evacuated the aircraft per their training so to that the aircraft could not
be forcibly flown. Bhanot, being the senior-most cabin crew member on
board, took charge.
The hijackers were part of the terrorist Abu Nidal Organization and were backed by Libya.
The terrorists then instructed Bhanot to collect the passports of all
the passengers so that they could identify the Americans. Bhanot and the
other attendants under her charge hid the passports of the 41 Americans
on board – some under a seat and the rest down a rubbish chute.
After 17 hours, the hijackers opened fire and set off explosives.
Bhanot opened the emergency door and helped a number of passengers
escape. She could have been the first to jump out when she opened the
door but she decided not to and was shot while shielding three children
from a hail of bullets. One of the children, then aged 7, is now a
captain for a major airline and has stated that Neerja Bhanot has been
his inspiration and he owes every day of his life to her. Bhanot was
recognized internationally as "the heroine of the hijack" and is the
youngest recipient of the Ashok Chakra Award, India's most prestigious gallantry award for bravery during peace time.

Movie Reviews:

The hijackers, said to be from the Abu Nidal Organisation,
were captured by Pakistan, tried, convicted and sentenced to death in
1988. Their sentence was later commuted to life in prison.
In 2001, Zayd Hassan Abd Al-Latif Masud Al Safarini, one of the
hijackers who shot the passengers, was captured by the FBI in Bangkok
after being released by Pakistan. He is currently serving a 160-year
prison term in Colorado. Four others were freed from Pakistan's Adyala Jail
in January 2008. The FBI announced a $5 million bounty on their heads.
In January 2010, Pakistani intelligence officials announced that a drone
attack in the North Waziristan tribal region had killed one of the
released hijackers, Jamal Saeed Abdul Rahim. His death was never
confirmed.

Bhanot was the senior flight purser on the ill-fated Pan Am Flight 73, which was hijacked
by four armed men. As the plane was on the tarmac, the three-member
American cockpit crew of pilot, co-pilot and the flight engineer
evacuated the aircraft per their training so that the aircraft could not
be forcibly flown. Bhanot, being the senior-most cabin crew member on
board, took charge.
The hijackers were part of the terrorist Abu Nidal Organization and were backed by Libya.
The terrorists then instructed Bhanot to collect the passports of all
the passengers so that they could identify the Americans. Bhanot and the
other attendants under her charge hid the passports of the 41 Americans
on board – some under a seat and the rest down a rubbish chute.
After 17 hours, the hijackers opened fire and set off explosives.
Bhanot opened the emergency door and helped a number of passengers
escape. She could have been the first to jump out when she opened the
door but she decided not to and was shot while shielding three children
from a hail of bullets. One of the children, then aged 7, is now a
captain for a major airline and has stated that Neerja Bhanot has been
his inspiration and he owes every day of his life to her. Bhanot was
recognized internationally as "the heroine of the hijack" and is the
youngest recipient of the Ashok Chakra Award, India's most prestigious gallantry award for bravery during peace time.

Her killers

The hijackers, said to be from the Abu Nidal Organisation,
were captured by Pakistan, tried, convicted and sentenced to death in
1988. Their sentence was later commuted to life in prison.
In 2001, Zayd Hassan Abd Al-Latif Masud Al Safarini, one of the
hijackers who shot the passengers, was captured by the FBI in Bangkok
after being released by Pakistan. He is currently serving a 160-year
prison term in Colorado. Four others were freed from Pakistan's Adyala Jail
in January 2008. The FBI announced a $5 million bounty on their heads.
In January 2010, Pakistani intelligence officials announced that a drone
attack in the North Waziristan tribal region had killed one of the
released hijackers, Jamal Saeed Abdul Rahim. His death was never
confirmed and he remains on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists and Rewards
for Justice lists.

User Reviews:

"Her loyalties to the passengers of the aircraft in distress will
forever be a lasting tribute to the finest qualities of the human
spirit".

Ashok Chakra citation

For her bravery, the Government of India posthumously awarded her the Ashoka Chakra Award
(India's highest gallantry award for bravery in the face of the enemy
during peace time), and Bhanot became its youngest recipient. In 2004
the Indian Postal Service released a stamp commemorating her.
With the insurance money and an equal contribution from Pan Am for
using the brand Pan Am in the title, Bhanot's parents set up the Neerja
Bhanot Pan Am Trust. The trust presents two awards every year, one for a
flight crew member, worldwide, who acts beyond the call of duty and
another to an Indian woman who, when faced with social injustice such as
dowry or desertion perseveres and then helps other women in similar
social distress. The award includes a sum of INR 1,50,000, a trophy and a citation.
Bhanot's brother Aneesh went to Washington DC
in 2005 to receive the 'Justice for Crimes Award' awarded posthumously
to her as part of the 'Annual Crime Rights Week' at a ceremony held at
the United States Attorney's office for the District of Columbia.In 2006, she and the other Pan Am Flight 73 flight attendants and Pan
Am's flight director for Pakistan were awarded the Special Courage award
by the US Department of Justice.
A square called Neerja Bhanot Chowk is named after her in Mumbai's Ghatkopar (East) suburb by the Mumbai Municipal Corporation, which was inaugurated by Amitabh Bachchan in the early 1990s.
The civil aviation ministry of India conferred an honour on Neerja
Bhanot posthumously on 18 February 2010 in New Delhi on the occasion of
the launch of the celebrations of the centenary of Indian aviation.